A poem and a sonic scape
pattismith.substack.com
A poem and a sonic scape
Happy birthday Sun Ra and Gerard de Nerval
Article voiceover
GOLDEN VERSES
by Gerard de Nerval
Man, free thinker! do you believe you alone can reason
In this world where life surges everywhere?
The forces that are yours are ordered by your freedom,
But the Universe is missing from all your deliberations.
Respect an active spirit in the beast:
Each flower is a soul open to Nature;
In metal dwells a mystery of love;
"All things are sentient!” And mold your being.
Beware of a spying gaze in the blind wall;
The Word is bound to matter . . .
Do not set it to profane usage!
Often in the meanest being a God is hidden;
And as the eyelid covers the nascent eye,
The Spirit grows under the surface of stones.
Translated by Daisy Aldan
Thank you. Something new to me.
My favorite line, and something I need to remember often: "Often in the meanest being a God is hidden." I love that you introduce new-to-me poems and poets who write in French. My second language is French, and I can go search out the originals to blow my mind even more. So awesome.